Travel & Events

The government has come up with various bureaucracies and invests public money every year to improve the tourism industry. But a much better strategy would be if bottom-up approaches are employed to address glaring annoyances, writes AMBESSAW ASSEGUED(assegued@anfilo.com).

The existentialist who subscribes to no cause or has no belief in any human construct and surrenders to the natural laws that govern our universe is a rare species in Ethiopia. It seems to be our fate to forever fret and worry about everything, big and small, even over things where we cannot possibly have the minutest influence, particularly when it comes to our country.

“I attribute my present sense of peace and harmony to my belief that the gods have finally heard my prayer,” says a man to his friend in a heated dinner conversation on current political affairs. “I used to say, ‘Please gods, find someone other than me to worry about Ethiopia.’ Look what happened! The gods have found Abiy to do that for me.”

The new crew of ministers and government officials, even the most jaded among them, will have to keep awake at night trying to deal with all the problems that face Ethiopia.

Sometimes, big national problems can be solved with simple solutions that require no appointment of lofty sounding boards, commissions or committees. If major problems can be encapsulated into small areas like, for instance, privatised historical property like Taitu Hotel in Piassa, which can be used as a springboard to formulate solutions for some of our problems.

Many tourists come to the hotel, mostly because it is cheap and for its convenient location. Perhaps, a few may choose this grand and venerable hotelier for its past connection to Evelyn Waugh’s satirical novel, Scoop.

The hotel has an even loftier history, however, than the accounts of a brief stay of the eccentric adventures of a conceited war correspondent. Waugh bases the story of Scoop on the time when he found himself housed there with a motley collection of newspaper men at the beginning of hostilities during the second Ethio-Italian in 1935.

There is also the splendid legend of Menelik II who takes frequent trips around the city to inspect the construction of roads and bridges in the new city. On his return trips to his palace, the emperor is intercepted by a budding population of Greek and Armenian merchants and confectioners who press upon him to partake and be entertained with European sweets, wine and delicacies.

To the annoyance of Empress Taitu, his consort, the imperial entourage will frequently stop to be entertained and be delayed to the geber, the mid-day feast waiting at the palace. The legend is that she commissions and builds the hotel as a stopover for Menilik on these expeditions and to keep a close eye on her husband’s escapades.

With this and many other rich stories, exquisite architectural features, open landscape, sweeping views of the capital, shaded verandas, brightly-lit rooms, bay windows that open to gardens, superbly crafted woodwork, splendidly laid stone masonry and with its airy ceilings, Taitu Hotel should be a top-tier venue for well-heeled travelers.

Instead, it caters to the tourist crowd that can put up with broken fixtures, splintered floors and ill-kept bathrooms. Let us not mention the hotel grounds that house a clatter of haphazardly placed containers and offices rented out to tour operators, and film and newspaper producers.

The story of Taitu Hotel could easily encapsulate the current situation of Ethiopia as a tourist destination. Endowed with untold natural and cultural treasures, we stagger around confused, trying to find a way to build a viable tourist industry. This, despite the fact that the nation is, among many other attributes, the land of origins. And this claim is not vanity.

The fact that rich cultural and historical heritages are neglected, and the infrastructure needed to develop the industry has collapsed is not much argued. Also, there is no argument that the country is endowed with an enviable trove of tourism resources.

Ethiopia is the origin of Arabica coffee and the only place on the planet where coffee grows naturally in the wild; it is home to hundreds of endemic flora and fauna; and a place where unique habitats of highland moors and Afro-alpine rainforests are supported.

It is a country where a myriad of streams, creeks, lakes and rivers grace its natural landscapes; a place where many of the oldest Christian, Islamic and indigenous practices still flourish; multitudes of cultures and languages have evolved; a refined national cuisine with extraordinary taste, smell, texture and colour has enriched the lives of its citizens; and cultivated seed varieties of wheat, beans, peas and teffhave developed making Ethiopia a true seed-bank.

Despite all these apparent advantages, a solution to bring about a transformation of the tourist industry has eluded us. The government stumbles to find solutions by granting the development of hotels through tax incentives and duty-free privileges with little success.

Its other solutions have been to erect bureaucracies as if that alone will do the trick. On the federal level there is the Ministry of Tourism & Culture and Tourism Ethiopia; the National Tourism Board; Tourism Ethiopia; Hotel & Tourism Works Training Center; and then, of course, each regional state has its own bureaucracy, as do all the city administrations around the country. There is no rhyme or reason to the management of the tourism industry in Ethiopia.

Simple solutions that can bring about transformation are seldom considered. In the case of Taitu Hotel, transformation of the property can take place with reasonable investment made in upgrading the plumbing, electricity, finishes and fixtures of the hotel.

The landscape can also be repaired with minimal effort, creating a world-class garden that can create an asset for the city; and implementing a rigid and thorough cleaning and maintenance routines will improve the property and drive well-to-do tourists to the hotel.

If a small privatized hotel property like Taitu is challenged to emerge out of the doldrums of the past century, when Waugh wandered its corridors, we must wonder what the fate of the planned privatization of government enterprises will be. Let us be very careful as we go ahead with these grandiose plans for our public institutions and country. It is hoped that our leaders will thrive to find simple solutions to our big national problems.

Education, tourism, fisheries and exchange of specialists are areas of cooperation that Seychelles and Ghana will enhance to deepen existing relations, said the newly accredited high commissioner.

The new high commissioner of Ghana to Seychelles, George Ayisi-Boateng, spoke Tuesday after presenting his credentials to President Danny Faure at State House, Victoria.

“I know that the fisheries and tourism sectors of Seychelles are booming. In Ghana, we have the technocrats, young graduates, young engineers and we can exchange expertise,” the high commissioner said, adding that “any area that comes to mind can be suggested to me and I can take it up.”

“My President sent me here to work to strengthen the relationship and take it to another level, mutually benefitting the two republics and their people,” said Ayisi-Boateng.

Seychelles and Ghana have historical ties back to the days of the exile of King Prempeh I of the Ashanti people to the western Indian Ocean archipelago almost 120 years ago.

Although King Prempeh later returned to Ghana, some of the Ashanti people settled in Seychelles and today Prempeh’s descendants are spread out across the archipelago.

Ayisi-Boateng described the existing relationship between the two countries as “fantastic and cordial.”

The newly accredited high commissioner will be based in Pretoria, South Africa and has pledged to travel to Seychelles often on working visits.

The sixth resort of Haile Hotels will be opened in a the leased Landmark Hotel

Haile Hotels & Resorts is in the final stages of finishing its sixth resort, this one in Gonder, after spending 15 million Br to renovate Landmark Hotel.

Haile Resorts Gonder is expected to be operational in December of this year after a lease agreement entered with Nega Addisu, owner of Landmark Hotel, becomes effective next month. Haile Hotels signed a five-year deal with Landmark with a renewal option that could extend the lease up to 15 years.

The three-star Landmark Hotel was initially built in 2005 for 80 million Br. Located at the bottom of the hillside of Genet Terara, the gateway to Asmera, it sits on a 2,116sqm plot.

The renovation will raise the number of beds from 56 to 66 and the capacity of the multi-purpose hall from 90 to 200. New facilities to be added include a swimming pool, health care facilities, children’s playground and a shopping centre. The hotel already hosts a restaurant, cafeteria, a private dining room with capacity to seat 20 people and a nightclub.

Keeping all 102 staff working at the hotel is also part of the agreement, according to Nega.

“The resort, after the expansion and renovation, will become a four-star hotel,” said Melkamu Mekonnen, director at Haile Hotels & Resorts.

Haile Hotels & Resorts decided to initiate the lease agreement as it was a more effective way to address tourism in the northern parts of the country, according to the director. It is also the company’s vision to increase their brand of hotels and resorts in the country to 20 in the next five years.

Nega, an architect by profession, built the hotel in Gonder with the intention of leaving his mark on the tourism industry of the city. One of his longterm visions is to develop a hotel with a revolving restaurant and cable car.

“The hotel business will be effective when managed by professionals, and I am glad the hotel is to be administered by the company of the renowned athlete Haile G. Selassie,” said Nega.

Haile Hotel Adama and Haile Palace Addis Abeba are projects in the pipeline, while a hotel project in Debre Berhan and resort projects in Konso and Wolayta Sodo are also underway.

The expansion of Haile Resorts and Hotels in Northern Ethiopia is essential as it increases the capacity of tourist accommodation and image building for the tourism industry, according to Gezahegn Abate, corporate communications director at the Ministry of Culture & Tourism.

In 2014 a total of 770,428 tourists visited Ethiopia, enabling the country to earn 2.8 billion dollars. The tourist flow climbed to 933,000 last fiscal year and generated 3.5 billion dollars in revenue.

Getahun Yewendatir, managing director for Element Hospitality Management & Consultancy, who has worked in the industry for nearly a decade, supports the expansion as he believes it is hard to build hospitality establishments from scratch at every tourist destination.

“It is a wise move as it is a win-win business solution,” said Getahun.

TANZANIA has become the first country in East African region to embrace an electronic vehicle to operate within its national parks in its efforts to reduce emission.

The Arusha based Mount Kilimanjaro Safari Club (MKSC), over the weekend rolled out the first 100 per cent electric safari vehicle (e-car) in Serengeti National Park, becoming the pioneer tour company to introduce the environmental friendly vehicles in the EA region.

“The e-car reduces maintenance costs, it doesn’t use fuel as it is 100 per cent ecological charging, thanks to solar panels,” Mr Lebouteux told the audience during the vehicle inauguration in Serengeti, winning the hearts and minds of conservationists.

He added: “The silent and environmental friendly e-safari vehicles can approach wildlife without disturbing them”. At first, Mr Lebouteux was not completely convinced that the technology could work in Africa, as is the case with Europe where there is ready-made infrastructures.

“But I told myself, I could try because we have a lot of solar power that can charge the vehicles. We tried with the first two cars in June and after four months of operation there has neither been a single breakdown nor service,” he explained.

“I’m satisfied, the vehicles have offered fantastic service for the guests. We are going to bring more five e-vehicles for safaris in the near future to make them seven,” Mr Lebouteux noted, adding: “The good news about e-cars is that they are silent, no smoke, no noise and the clients appreciate to use them for game driving.”

Serengeti National Park Chief Warden William Mwakilema said he has received the e-cars wholeheartedly, as he believes they would help reduce a degree of pollution. Whereas high season between 300 and 400 tourist vehicles enter the Serengeti National Park every day, during the low season the flagship park handles between 80 and 100 cars each day.

“This technology shows us how our future activities will cut down management costs, including fuel and maintenance of vehicles. This clean technology will help us in our conservation and tourism activities,” Mwakilema explained.

For his part, the Chief Conservator for Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), Dr Fred Manongi, underscored the need for the country to embrace the e-vehicles for the benefits of conservation drive.

“As a country, we’ve to think of adopting the technology because the vehicle does neither emit smoke nor noise. Pollution has been completely controlled. In our conservation activities we do not like smoke and noise,” Dr Manongi said.

One thing was very clear that the technology needs investment in easy power generation methods. With two or three solar plants in a park and e-vehicles, they can make it. It is understood, England and Germany, for instance, are determined to phase out fossil fuel vehicles come 2025.

“We’ll reduce running cost for a great deal if we do the same, we spend colossal amount of money on fossil fuel vehicles. But an e-car also has a long life span; it does not wear out easily” he stressed.

This technology is the future of Tanzania as a country, Dr Manongi said, imploring the government to consider starting using it gradually to reduce cost and save the environment. Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO) Chairman, Mr Wilbard Chambulo, commended the project, saying the e-cars are good, as are economic.

“The only challenge is the cost because the technology is still new, but when others enter the market, the cost will go down,” Mr Chambulo explained.

“Taking into account that prices of fuel are increasing, the e-vehicles are ideal, because they will save foreign currency used for importing oil. I believe the tourism sector will receive the technology wholeheartedly,” he said.

The French Embassy representative, Mr Philippe Galli, said his country was keen on supporting French companies, especially in fighting against bad effects of climate change by protecting nature.

“This project is directly linked to saving energy. I am proud of the French company partnering with German experts to implement this project,” noted Mr Galli who is the head of Economic Department at the French Embassy in Tanzania.

He further underlined that Tanzania is serious about protecting wildlife reserves and that the vehicles will not do harm to nature or disturb animals. “As the head of Economic Department from the French Embassy, I will convince other companies from France and Europe to emulate this excellent initiative,” Mr Galli noted.

TANZANIA is gearing to become a hub of high-tech cardiovascular treatment in East Africa and Sub- Saharan Africa through extension of the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) at Mloganzila, which is envisioned to be a centre of excellence in the region.

Apart from treating local patients, the current facility at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) extends services to patients from neighbouring countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda as well as Zambia, Malawi and the Comoros, among others.

The planned new facility at Mloganzila, which will include a special wing for children, will have a capacity of between 280 and 350 beds, up from the current 128 beds at the current JKCI building, which is located within the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH).

According to the Executive Director of JKCI, Prof Mohamed Janabi, the health facility has so far attended to 227,738 patients since it was established three years ago in September 2015.

Among the patients, 1,025 underwent major and minor heart surgeries at the institute. At 1,025 heart surgeries, Tanzania is the second country in Sub-Saharan Africa after Namibia, apart from South Africa, to have conducted such big number of operations, Prof Janabi explained.

Prof Janabi made the revelation at the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of China-Tanzania Cooperation in the health sector, which was held at the Embassy of China in Dar es Salaam where the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Dr Augustine Mahiga, was the chief guest.

“All the drawings and proposal of the new hospital have been completed and submitted to the government of China. We are highly positive that they (Chinese) will support us in this project just as they did for the current facility,” Prof Janabi stated.

Dr Mahiga informed the audience that Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa had requested the President of China, Mr Xi Jinping, to support the expansion of JKCI during the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in September, this year.

“Apart from the extension of the cardiac institute, we also requested our Chinese friends to enable us to improve our capability in manufacturing of medicines, medical equipment and training of personnel,” Dr Mahiga, who accompanied the PM at FOCAC, stated.

Cardiovascular complications are among non-communicable diseases that are on the rise in Tanzania and elsewhere in the region and hence the need to expand JKCI to enable it to cater for treatment of heart diseases.

Speaking earlier, the Ambassador of China to Tanzania, Ms Wang Ke, disclosed that over 2,000 medical practitioners have been dispatched from China, particularly in Shandong Province, to hospitals in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar.

During the commemoration, officials from the two countries also launched a programme called “Chinese Doctors’ Medical Visits Benefiting Tanzania,” in which medical teams will be dispatched twice every year to provide free medical services in rural areas.

The Envoy pledged support from her government to ensure that extension of JKCI is implemented. The Chinese government provided 16.6bn/- for JKCI, while the government of Tanzania provided funds amounting to 10bn/-.

Earlier, Dr Mahiga expressed appreciation to China for continued support in eradicating the three enemies mentioned by the late Father of the Nation Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, namely poverty, diseases and illiteracy.

“Tanzania and China have had uninterrupted friendship all along. China has been granting us multi-faceted assistance to fight the three enemies,” the seasoned diplomat stated.

The Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu, pointed to the fact that JKCI had made significant contribution by reducing referrals of heart patients by 85 per cent.

Tens of thousands packed Pretoria Showgrounds in Gauteng Province of South Africa to be part of Salvation Festival, an annual event organised by Prophet Shepherd Bushiri’s Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG).

Malawian Prophet Bushiri, also known as Major One, was the guest of honour of the event held on Sunday.

Apart from the normal service, the event was characterised by a normal Sunday Service with a Holy Communion, musical perfomances, baptism, sporting activities, preaching and also testimonies.

According to Bushiri’s communications director Ephraim Nyondo, the event is meant to celebrate ‘the beauty of being saved from sin and living in the word.”

“We plannned for 40 000 people but we had about 55 000 people. It was really a great moment where people celebrated their salvation.”

ECG is one of the fastest growing church with branches in all the six continents of the world.

As star CNN business news presenter Richard Quest boarded the inaugural Kenya Airways direct flight to the United States, he must have left filled with fresh insights on the unbounded promise and potential of a country his network once described as a “hotbed of terror”.

The man clearly enjoyed himself, awed not just by the tourist attractions but also the enterprise, innovation and drive of a people who defy the odds to maintain this country’s ranking as one of Africa’s leading commerce, technology and communications hotspots.

PROUDLY GAY

He also witnessed first-hand the confounding hypocrisy afflicting a country that boasts religious inclinations but is bedevilled by unbridled corruption, violent crime and complete refusal to abide by any ethical or moral code.

Mr Quest is proudly gay and, soon after arrival, he defended his sexual preferences in an interview on Capital FM radio. We did not hear the expected howls of protest from the notoriously homophobic voices in government, politics, churches and society in general.

PROSPERITY GOSPEL

Perhaps there was recognition that Mr Quest’s positive reporting on Kenya in the week leading up to the KQ flight was too valuable to be jeopardised by prurient meddling into his personal lifestyle choices.

On the Sunday before the flight, Mr Quest went to church. The JCC Ministry, a prosperity gospel enterprise owned by evangelical power couple Richard and Kathy Kiuna, proudly tweeted that the CNN star would be in attendance. Now, that provoked Twitter rants. Some wondered how a church would welcome an openly gay visitor. They brought out biblical verses to back their argument that homosexuality was deviant and ungodly.

LAND GRABBERS

One of the passages cited was 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” And that’s where hypocrisy and selective reading of the Bible was on full display.

The homophobes picked out homosexuals and sodomites, but I can bet that the pews at JCC that morning were packed with adulterers, thieves, drunkards, murderers, paedophiles, land grabbers, prostitutes, warlords, genocidaires and every other unrighteous deplorable. These are sinners the self-righteous hypocrites won’t shun and isolate through narrow and dishonest misinterpretation of the Scripture.

MORAL POLICEMAN

It might be comforting, however, that the rants did not snowball into a deluge. Perhaps Kenyans have matured and don’t have time to waste delving into other people’s bedrooms.

Mr Quest commands a global audience on CNN. It is for good reason that he was feted by the government, the tourist industry and Big Business. That is where common sense and the big picture prevailed over blinkered provincialism.

KIUNA ENTERPRISE

This outlook is best illustrated by the fact that even the government’s self-appointed moral policeman, Kenya Film Classification Board boss Ezekiel Mutua, was moved to tweet his support for Mr Quest’s visit to the Kiuna enterprise and the Kenya mission in general. He recognised that, even if gay, Quest is a top-notch journalist whose reports would do a world of good for Kenya.

Mr Mutua even reported that he had given approval for the CNN camera crew to film at the JCC. This, of course, raises the question whether the board has any mandate under the law to license or approve news productions. Absolutely not!

BAN CNN

Anyway, a typical Mutua would have launched a tirade and threatened to ban CNN from Kenyan airwaves.

Such was the excitement over the Quest visit that a prominent pro-government media personality was moved to tweet a bit of fake news, manufacturing ringing endorsements wrongly attributed to him.

But overall, so glowing were Mr Quest’s reports that some forums suggested that he and CNN were being paid by the government to air the positive spin, which I doubt it can do.

It is not in dispute, however, that CNN has been keen to mend fences with the Kenya government since the ‘hotbed of terror’ faux pas ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit in mid 2015.

SOFT INTERVIEW

Soon afterwards, CNN Executive vice-president and managing director Tony Maddox flew over to apologise to President Uhuru Kenyatta. The Kenya Tourism Board had just cancelled a major advertising campaign set to run on CNN.

More recently, in April this year, CNN’s star international correspondent Christian Amanpour sat with President Kenyatta for a ‘softy’ interview that was quite in contrast to her usual hard-hitting style.

Expect the government advertising budget to soon lift an unstated blacklisting of CNN.